What services does BSNC offer?

Sharon Grant from Budgeting Services North Canterbury

Following on from the previous article…and a short recap.
•We cover the Waimakariri and Hurunui districts, and our free and confidential support is available to all New Zealanders.
•Our ABC:
Advocacy, Budgeting, Credit checks, Debts, E-banking, Financial mentoring, Good choices, Hardship applications, Insolvency, Journey (at your pace), KiwiSaver, Listening, Mortgage, No Asset Procedures, Options, Power providers, Queries, Rates, Savings, Transactions, Unsecured loans, Volatility, Work & Income, Xtra special, You first, Zero-based budgeting.
If you’d like more information, or help with decoding these terms, please call/email/website form/drop-in – we’ll be happy to help.
We work closely with all the local Foodbanks e.g. St Vincent de Paul, The Salvation Army, Kaiapoi Community Service, etc. Sometimes one food box will be enough to cover your needs as you get back on your feet. Other times it might be that a few food boxes will enable you to re-direct that “food” money to paying off some smaller bills.
•More wraparound services that we refer clients to:
oCitizens Advice Bureau, Canlaw, Curtain Bank, Community Energy Action (for healthy homes checks and energy advice), Comcare, Cancer Society, Community Wellbeing NC
oDriving Miss Daisy, Generator, St Johns, Nurse Maude
oLibraries - for Skinny Jump (data), digital/mobile/tablet training
oOxford Community Trust
oPerson to Person (depression support)
Far too many to name - Every single agency we work with is truly valued, and we appreciate the help and support they provide for our clients.
Community Education Workshops
•“Let’s Talk About” – 8 x one-hour sessions, covering various “money” topics. These casual “coffee and cake chats” are group lead.
For example, the general chat will start off with “money” and what it means to you. Some people will just listen, others might share their stories.
•“Lifeskills 101” – a half-day session presenting “tasters” of budgeting (why?), debts (good vs bad), Kiwisaver etc.
Previous hosts - The Mayors Taskforce for Jobs Project (Waimakariri and Hurunui), NC Equipment Ltd. and others.
•Individuals, families and groups of friends have requested variations of these workshops = lots of sharing, laughter and fun. If you’d like to get a group together, call us and we’ll facilitate it.
Community Outreach
We run fortnightly “Budgeting Drop-in Clinics” at the following locations:
The Salvation Army Rangiora – next one on the 30th April – 9:30am – 11:30am
CAB (Citizens Advice Bureau) – next one on the 30th April – 9:30am – 11:30am

KCS (Kaiapoi Community Centre) – next one on the 23rd April – 9:30am – 11:30am
No appointment necessary for the “quick question” 10-minute slots.
Following on from the “quick question “a full 1-hour appointment can be made for a later date.
Phone or email to talk about your situation:
03 315 3505 or email: servicemanager@bsnc.org.nz
We’re on Facebook and www.bsnc.org.nz...
Our office is in the War Memorial Hall, 1 Albert Street, Rangiora.